Roasting

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : OK, this one's a bit risky for me. I was being subjected to an episode of 'the Shield' and before I walked out on it halfway through due to its chronic stupidity and pathetic overacting, I heard the bald cop say that they had to find the gang bangers. Now this got my attention, cos I gather he was referring to a gang of thugs. However in Australia, I'm afraid gang bangers are well pretty much multiple rapists. ie. She was raped by gang bangers. Actually sometimes it can also mean consentual (sp?) sex. ie. she was involved in a gang bang, meaning lots of blokes er had their way...

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : Too bad you couldn't stick with The Shield. Vic Mackey (the bald cop) and his crew make an almost Faustian pact to dip into the pie just the once but find it rapidly becomes a way of life. Michael Chiklis has created one of the most complex characters on television. He's violent and repugnant - even moreso than Tony Soprano can be, but as his character develops it's hard not to feel some sympathy for him as the job and his life spiral out of control. But it does take a little patience and open mindedness. I hated the Sopranos the first time I watched it. Now I think it's the finest thing on television.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : In the US I sort of have a feeling that half century ago 'gang bangers' were multiple rapists and that the meaning has evolved to most commonly mean members of street gangs.

: : : : : : : : : : : : I'm from the U.S. That's my understanding, it became a more general term not necessarily relating to sexual assault. I'll do a little research this evening and see if I can find something more specific. (I wonder if Merriam-Webster covers this one?)

: : : : : : : : :
: : : : : : : : : Pulling a Train? Never heard that one before. As for The Shield. Not sure I've got the patience to persist. I have watched a whole episode before, but just thought that Vic Mackey the character was a yobbo and that the actor protraying him was a really bad actor, and it didn't really impress me. The Sopranos on the other hand. Yep, I liked that.

: : : : : : : : I've heard the detective novelist James Crumley use this phrase. You might
: : : : : : : : like his _The Last Good Kiss_ . It is very highly acclaimed.

: : : : : : : "Pulling the train" -- so is that the genesis of the British term "pulling", i.e., to have sexual intercourse? Hmmm -- as I understood it from context, "pulling" meant basically one male, one female, a slangy way of saying "he was getting some": "he's been pulling". Also "Want to pull?".

: : : : : To pull is to pick someone up, not necessarily to have sex with them. You might just have a good old snog. I don't think the two terms are related at all.

: : : : Is this British?

: : : Yes, I believe it is. A snog is a big sloppy kiss with all the accoutrements. *grin*

: : I know, I know! It's kind of like "making out" in the good ol' USA. I know this because I bought two learning-about-sex books (boy and girl versions) from Usborne for my children. Turns out that the books were published in Great Britain and my kids learned the British terms. Maybe it will do them some good if they ever get to travel.

: I had thought that "pull a train" meant gang rape because the woman is made to service a series of men, as the locomotive does the work of pulling a series of cars.

In the recent UK discussion of football (soccer) players' antics, the recreation of "roasting" came up. It appears that picking up a woman for consensual sex and then allowing a few mates to 'have a go' is not uncommon. Now, I can understand the likes of Peter Beardsley (great player htough he was) having trouble and relying on a Cyrano de Bergerac, but for the good-looking, well-groomed and overpaid lads - it seems just laziness to me!

Surely it's all going to be a bit sloppy...the expression 'stirring the porridge' comes to mind.